Rory Best unfazed by Eddie Jones mind games

Ireland captain Rory Best believes Johnny Sexton is in no need of a gentle arm around him as he dismissed England boss Eddie Jones’s comments about the fly-half’s health as “a sideshow”.

Speaking on the eve of today’s showdown between Ireland and England at Twickenham, Best described Jones’s mind games as gamesmanship in reference to the Australian saying on Thursday that he believed Sexton’s parents would be worried about their son’s well-being following the “whiplash” neck injury he suffered against France a fortnight ago.

“Everything else, apart from the rugby for us, is a sideshow that we don’t want to get involved in,” the Ireland hooker said after leading his team’s captain’s run workout at Twickenham yesterday.